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GreekReporter.comBusinessSingapore's GIC Fund Invests in Greek Luxury Resort Chain

Singapore’s GIC Fund Invests in Greek Luxury Resort Chain

Singapore GIC Greece resorts
Singapore’s GIC Fund Invests in Greek Luxury Resort Chain. Credit: Ikos Resorts.  Panoramic view of Ikos Olivia resort in Halkidiki, Greece.

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has agreed to buy a stake in Greece’s Sani/Ikos Group (SIG) in a deal that values the operator of luxury resorts in the Mediterranean at €2.3 billion ($2.3 billion).

Forbes says it is the biggest European hotel transaction since the COVID-19 pandemic upended the travel and tourism industry.

SIG founders—Stavros Andreadis, Andreas Andreadis, and Mathieu Guillemin—who transformed the company from the family-owned Sani Resort in Greece into one of the fastest-growing resort operators in the Mediterranean, will remain key shareholders.

Sani/Ikos traces its origins to the Sani Club, a resort opened in 1971 by Greek hotelier Anastasios Andreadis, which expanded over the following decades.

Andreadis’s sons, Stavros and Andreas, became major shareholders in the group when it was formed from a merger of Sani Resort and Ikos Resorts in 2015 alongside former Oaktree executive Mathieu Guillemin. All three will stay on as shareholders and continue working with the business.

Greek resort chain has “remarkable growth”

Andreas Andreadis and Guillemin, who serve as co-chief executives, said in a joint statement that the company had “led a remarkable path” of growth over recent years “despite the pandemic.”

Bookings across the ten resorts with about 2,700 rooms across Greece and Spain this year were up 52 percent last year and 57 percent on pre-pandemic levels. The company said early 2023 bookings were strong.

It has secured four new projects, which promise to bring an additional 1,578 rooms, suites, and villas when the properties become operational between 2023 and 2025.

“We can now solidify our leading position across the Mediterranean to the benefit of our shareholders, our people, and the communities where we operate,” they added.

Singapore’s GIC: Investment is a testament to our confidence in Greece’s tourism

“The group’s assets are well-located and the team is known for providing excellent hospitality experiences,” Lee Kok Sun, chief investment officer of real estate at GIC, said in a statement.

“We believe this investment will generate resilient returns and is a testament to our confidence in the Greek and wider European tourism sector over the long term,” Lee Kok Sun said.

Greece’s Development and Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis said that investors “Have confidence in Greece. They know that if they invest their money, they will not lose but gain.”

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